How Things Could Have Been
by TweakerWolf
Summary: Simple rewrite/adaptation of Harry Potter except all the Hogwart's students are gender switched. My version of how the story might have been if things were a little backwards. Slowly in progress. Please review and let me know what you think of it, I may continue it
1. The Girl Who Lived

Late one evening, after a particularly strange day, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley finally went to bed. They had hoped that things would be normal tomorrow. Today had been filled with all kinds of strange people, wearing robes celebrating for no reason. Owls were flying all over London and shooting stars could be seen all night. The Dursleys did not like strange events, it reminded them too much of their family secret. They always put forth the most effort to ignore any and all weird occurrences. Yes, they decided, tomorrow was going to be a good day, when they woke up; everything would be back to normal. Little did they know that not long after they went to sleep, something occurred that would change everything. A cat made its way up to the Dursley house and jumped up onto the low garden wall. The cat had been watching the house for most of the day, out of sight from the Dursleys. Now that it was night, the cat figured it was time to come closer to the house. The cat was looking down the street, waiting. Before long a lone figure suddenly appeared at the far end of the street. The figure was a strange sight to see, especially on this street. He was an older man with a long silver beard, half-moon spectacles, and was wearing a deep purple robe. The man dug in his robes and pulled out a strange device looking similar to a cigarette lighter. Holding the device out by his side he flicked it, the nearest street lamp went out and a small ball of light floated towards the device. He did this until each lamp on the street was extinguished, collecting each ball of light, and then he made his way toward the Dursley home. Once he reached the house, he stood by the wall, next to the cat.

"Well hello there Professor McGonagall," the man said to the cat with a smile.

At those words the cat on the wall jumped to the ground, once its feet hit the ground, it transformed into a strict looking woman. She was also wearing a robe and square glasses, her hair pulled back into a tight bun.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, a good evening to you," returned Professor McGonagall

"Professor, I must ask, what have you been doing here this evening, why were you not out celebrating?"

"I heard that you'd be stopping by here tonight, and I would rather like to know why. I will say, everyone else certainly has been celebrating; it's been all over the Muggle news. No one is being responsible, not even bothering to wear Muggle clothes when they are out on the street."

"Well we've had very little to celebrate the past 11 years. I'm not surprised everyone has gotten a little rambunctious."

"So do you really think it's true, that You-Know-Who is gone?" McGonagall asked tentatively.

"Yes, it really would appear that Voldemort has finally disappeared-"

Professor McGonagall flinched when she heard the name Voldemort.

"Now now Minerva, surely you can refer to him by name now, after all fear of name only increases the fear of the person."

"Well, everyone knows that you're the only person that You-Kno- oh okay, that Voldemort has ever been afraid of."

"Oh you flatter me Professor, He has powers greater than mine," Dumbledore replied.

"Well that's simply because you are too noble to use magic like his. But, is it true, what everyone is saying. How Voldemort with all his powers, came to his downfall?" McGonagall asked, tremor in her voice.

Dumbledore nodded his head, eyes downcast, "Yes, it is true, James and Lily Potter have been killed."

McGonagall gasped and brought a handkerchief to her eyes. She had heard many rumors but refused to believe it was true. But now that Dumbledore had confirmed it, she started to weep.

"Then is it also true, that what finished him was their little girl, Heather?"

"It would seem so, Heather is still alive, I've sent Hagrid to go and bring her here. For some reason that we can only guess at, when he tried to curse her, the curse backfired. Now there is no trace of Voldemort and young Heather is without parents," Dumbledore stated somberly.

"But why are you bringing Heather here, of all places?"

"The people here are her only relatives, she's coming to live with them."

"Oh Dumbledore, you can't possibly be serious. These people... they are so, unlike us in every way. Their son, he's a horribly spoiled little monster. Heather Potter, come and live here?"

"Well of course, these people are her blood, this is the best place for her."

"But she's going to be famous, a household name before she can even walk or talk. If she grows up here, she'll never know about her heritage," stated McGonagall adamantly.

"But I do think that is what is best, growing up away from the fame. Growing up in that environment can do horrible things to a child. I'm leaving her with a letter, so once she is older she can be introduced to her past, when she is ready," argued Dumbledore.

Just as Professor McGonagall was about to reply, there was a rumbling noise. As it grew louder, the pair of them looked around for any sign of oncoming headlights. Suddenly a large motorcycle dropped down from the sky, coming to a stop out front of the house. The motorcycle was huge, but then again it had to be in order to transport the mountainous man behind the handlebars. As he stood up to his full height, he was easily twice as tall as any Muggle and at least three times as wide. He had a wild mass of hair covering his face and head, full scruffy beard and shoulder length brown hair. He walked over to the pair, a very small bundle held carefully in his massive arms.

"Hi Professor Dumbledore sir, Professor McGonagall, I've got Heather here, safe an' sound asleep. Managed to get her out o' the rubble before any Muggles came around, set out to meet you here as soon as I could," the large man explained as he handed the bundle over to Dumbledore.

"Thank you Hagrid, you've done an excellent job. I knew I could count on you."

"May I- jus' say good bye to her, poor little thing-"Hagrid asked. He leaned down and gave Heather a whiskery kiss on the forehead. He then immediately started sobbing, unabashed tears streaming into his beard.

"It jus' isn't fair, Lily an' James, dead, Heather off to live with Muggles-"

"Now now, Hagrid, get a grip on yourself, you'll wake the whole neighborhood. It is tragic, but there is nothing to be done about it. This is what's best for her now," McGonagall admonished as she began patting Hagrid's arm. Dumbledore smoothed Heather's hair away from her face, and in the pale moonlight they could see a bright lightning shaped scar off to the left side of her forehead.

"Is that where-"McGonagall started

"Yes, that is where Voldemort tried to curse her. She'll have that for the rest of her life."

"But couldn't you do something about it?"

Dumbledore shook his head and replied, "No, curse scars can't be removed, and even if I could remove it, I wouldn't, scars are useful, in many different ways, as well as reminders," explained Dumbledore.

He walked to the doorstep and pulled a letter out of his robes and placed it in the blankets with the small black-haired girl. He gently placed her on the mat and tucked the blankets around her.

"Well that's that, I suggest we all make our way to the celebrations, for the Girl Who Lived, tonight marks a change for everyone," Dumbledore remarked as he turned back to the others. Hagrid wiped his tears on his jacket and climbed back on the motorcycle. It roared to life and took to the night skies, soon disappearing into the dark. Dumbledore began making his way down to the far end of the street again; once there he turned and pulled out his light device. With one flick, all twelve balls of light flew back and resumed their glowing. Just then, he could see McGonagall, once again a cat, turning the corner, disappearing with a flick of the tail. With that, Dumbledore turned and was gone with a pop. Heather kept on sleeping through the whole exchange, rolling over in her blankets, unaware that her life was going to be different in the morning.

Ten years had passed since that fateful night that Heather was left on her relative's doorstep. Ten very miserable years, and it looked like nothing was going to change. Every morning, she got up, had to make everyone breakfast, wearing her cousin, Dudley's old hand-me-down clothes and do every other chore in the house. Dudley of course was spoiled; he got anything he wanted, whenever he wanted it, ever since they were babies. Every year he got more and more presents while Heather was lucky to get an old pair of socks. She supposed it could be worse; she did at least have a bedroom, of sorts... it may have been the cramped cupboard under the stairs but, at least it was her own space. School also wasn't too bad, whenever she managed to stay out of trouble, although Dudley made sure that she had no friends by intimidating anyone who seemed too friendly. Some of the teachers felt sorry for her, coming to school in hand-me-down boy's clothes, looking underfed and miserable, but there was nothing they could do about it. Without a doubt, many of the teachers figured she was just another troublemaker who wasn't worth spending time on. A majority of her troubles started when all the weird accidents began happening. Like that time one of her teachers tried to make her answer an impossible question on the board but all of the chalk suddenly disappeared. Or the time one of the students was making fun of her broken glasses, and ended up with an eraser stuck up his nose. Of course she was sent to the principal's office but she never had an explanation for what happened. She was nowhere near the board when all the chalk disappeared, nor was she sitting by the boy who was making fun of her. But each time her aunt and uncle were phoned and she always got sent to her cupboard without dinner. It wasn't her fault all these weird things occurred when she was around, she didn't make any of it happen. But Heather knew that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would never listen to her.

Heather definitely didn't enjoy being in her Aunt and Uncle's home. They were mean to her, constantly bossed her around and allowed Dudley to be a big bully. Without fail, he was always finding new ways to make her life miserable. When they were younger, he had started with pulling her hair and pinching her arms to make her cry. Most recently their favorite game is to chase her down and force her to smell their farts. Heather was mostly able to outrun her cousin, especially when she knew all of his hideouts; she was really fast where he and his friends were not. Whenever she'd manage to get away from Dudley and his friends, they'd always threaten to tell his parents that she was doing weird things again. You see, her aunt and uncle knew that Heather was a bit strange, and they didn't like it one bit. She was always something that they tried to hide from everyone else. She knew she didn't belong here but she had nowhere else to go. They made it very clear to her when she was 5 that she was barely tolerated, a painful reminder of Aunt Petunia's estranged sister. Whenever she tried to ask where her parents were, they always told her that they ended up dead, overdosed on heroin one night. It was because of that addiction that Heather came out as strange as she was, so it was only proper that she knew to expect nothing from her life, addicts' babies never amounted to much.

Deep down Heather felt like they were lying to her but she didn't know why. If she really did have parents that were addicted to heroin, she wouldn't be as healthy as she was. In fact, Heather never got sick, not that she could remember. But this was her life now, living in the cabinet under the stairs, basically being her Aunt's slave. Since she was a girl she was expected to cook and clean, as well as look after Dudley. She hoped that she'd do well enough in school to get out of the house in a few years.

That morning, like every other morning, Aunt Petunia was up first, rapping on her door, yelling at her to wake up.

"Hurry up and start breakfast, and don't you burn anything! I want everything perfect for Dudley's big day," she called through the door.

Heather groaned softly, how could she have forgotten it was his birthday today? That meant it was going to be extra miserable. She quickly got dressed and walked down to the kitchen, as much as she didn't want to cook, she knew better than to make her aunt call her twice. She quickly put some eggs and bacon in a frying pan, cut up potatoes to put in another pan, and pulled out plates for everyone. When she glanced at the kitchen table, she saw that there was a mountain of presents with no space left to actually sit and eat. She shook her head and went back to making breakfast. Soon enough she heard Uncle Vernon moving around upstairs. When he appeared in the kitchen, morning paper in hand, he grunted at the pile of presents on the table. He moved some aside so he could have his usual place at the table.

Just as Heather was finishing with the breakfast, Dudley came thundering down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Alright, Happy Birthday to me, let's see how many presents I got this year," Dudley proclaimed. He sat at the table and starting looking through the pile, trying to gauge what he had gotten this year.

"Hey Mom, I only counted 27 presents, I had 28 last year! Shouldn't I have a few more presents than this!" he yelled to Aunt Petunia in the living room.

"Oh but honey, don't forget you have one of your presents in the garage, that you can go look at after breakfast, so that will be 28 presents. And then we'll buy you a present when we go to the zoo. Don't you worry Dudley, Mommy and Daddy love you, you won't go without presents, right dear?"

"Yea, sure, another present," Vernon grumbled, then added under his breath, "Although I think he's already got more than enough."

Heather quickly divided up the breakfast, giving Uncle Vernon and Dudley larger portions than her own. Aunt Petunia usually ate dry cereal for breakfast. She quickly set the plates on the table and took her own seat. Heather tried to eat her food quickly, so that way she could disappear into her cupboard before Aunt Petunia wanted her to do anything else. Before she could make her escape, Dudley decided it was time to open his presents, which meant he wanted to make sure Heather was around, just so he could gloat.

So Heather got to sit at the table while he opened his pile of gifts, which included: a new computer (he broke his old one when he got mad), a new gaming system, some of the most popular video games that had just come out, a few new movies, the latest comic books, and a new sports bike out in the garage. And with each present Dudley unwrapped, he shoved it in Heather's face, unabashed glee on his face.

"Look what I got, Fart-Sniffer, new comic books, and you will never touch them. And with the new sports bike I got, you won't be able to run away from me this summer!"

Heather couldn't help but smirk, the thought of Dudley on a bike. She gave him half a day before he got tired of it and then it would lie in the garage.

Heather was about to make a nasty retort when the phone suddenly rang and Aunt Petunia sprung out of her chair. Heather decided to just sit quietly while Dudley opened the rest of his presents. Uncle Vernon usually encouraged rough housing, so any remarks on her part would be like announcing open season. She still couldn't believe that her Aunt said nothing to Dudley about his abuse and name calling, there was no way she could be that oblivious. Heather sat fuming in those thoughts until Aunt Petunia let out an angry huff and hung up the phone.

"Vernon, would you come in the other room please, there is something we have to discuss," Aunt Petunia said as she motioned to the living room.

Uncle Vernon grunted and followed her to the living room, closing the door to the kitchen behind him. Heather and Dudley looked at each other before scrambling towards the kitchen door, trying to beat each other to the door. Heather was closer to the door but Dudley reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair, stopping her in her tracks and pushing her behind him. Dudley stuck his face up against the door jamb while Heather lay on her stomach and listened at the bottom of the door.

"What are we going to do with her Vernon, Mrs. Figg can't take her, she's at her daughter's house, she needs help getting around since she broke her leg. We don't have anywhere else to send her."

"There has to be somewhere that we can drop her off, I won't have her staying her by herself, who knows what she'll get into."

"I can't think of anyone, we don't want her staying with the neighbors, who knows what lies she'd tell, I don't want her ruining Dudley's important day."

Hearing that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg made Heather sad, she was a nice old lady, but if it meant she didn't have to go to her house, then today wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Mrs. Figg was plenty friendly but, her house smelled of too many cats and stale old person. It definitely needed to be aired out. And because she was so old, she didn't have anything fun, so Heather had to sit and watch old television shows and look through old albums of people she didn't know. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were still trying to reach a consensus of what to do with Heather when Dudley heard his parents mention the slightest possibility that Heather might have to come along and he was having none of it.

"You better not ruin my day you little turd," he whispered, stepping down on Heather's hair, making it so she couldn't get off the floor.

Heather tried to push his foot off of her hair but she was having no luck. Then suddenly he got off her hair and backed away from the door. Heather heard Aunt Petunia sigh and footsteps approaching. She quickly stood up and backed away from the door as well. Aunt Petunia opened the door, nervously wringing her hands, Uncle Vernon stood behind her, hands on her shoulder in support.

"Dudley, honey, I know it's your special day but, Mrs. Figg has broken her leg, and can't have any company right now. So Heather is going to have to come to the zoo with us. But don't worry-"

"NO! I don't want her coming, she ruins everything, girls are gross, and smelly. She'll just ruin everything!" Dudley screamed.

Heather crossed her arms at the insult, if anyone here was smelly, it definitely was not her. She washed everyday and always wore clean clothes, more than anyone could say about Dudley.

"Now, now Dudley, it will be fine, you won't even notice that she's there. Mommy promises," Aunt Petunia promised, over Dudley's screams.

"Dudley, get a hold of yourself, stop yelling, the neighbors will hear you!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, face starting to turn red.

Before Dudley could complain anymore, the doorbell rang. Dudley suddenly lit up, it was his friend Pat, here to go to the zoo. He ran to the front door and let his pal in, quickly telling him that they'd have to put up with Heather, that it wasn't fair. Heather poked her head out the kitchen door, looking over at Dudley and Pat, a very unpleasant feeling growing in her stomach. She didn't like Pat, he was confusing. He'd make fun of her all the time when he was with Dudley but every time in math class he'd smile at her and wink, always trying to sit next to her. She wasn't sure what to do about it, she didn't want to look stupid so she didn't ask anyone about it. Besides, he'd probably deny being nice to her anyways, so she just let it go. Nonetheless she felt really awkward thinking that she'd be going with Pat to the zoo, of all Dudley's friends, he invited Pat. Just then Aunt Petunia grabbed Heather's arm.

"It looks like there isn't anything to do about it, go get ready, you have five minutes. And try to look presentable, so that means do something about that nasty scar!"

Heather quickly ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. There wasn't anything to do about her clothes; they all looked the same on her anyways. So she concentrated on her wavy black shoulder length hair. She brushed some of her hair from the right side of her face over to the left, giving her side bangs that swooped over her forehead, effectively covering her scar. She then pulled the rest of her hair back into a rubber band at the base of her neck, leaving the swoop loose, slightly pulled back behind her ear. She then hurried over to her cupboard to pull on some socks and shoes. Ready to go she went over to Aunt Petunia so she could be inspected and cleared as presentable.

"I guess that will do, at least your scar is covered, hurry up, out to the car," Aunt Petunia said, after giving her a quick examination. Heather was trying not to smile, she didn't want to get left behind in case they thought she looked too happy.

"Heather, come over here a second," Uncle Vernon said as he pulled her aside.

He leaned down until they were face to face, pointing an accusatory finger at her, "I don't want ANY funny business while we're at the zoo, do you understand me? Anything at all and you'll be without supper for a week."

"I understand Uncle Vernon, no funny business."

Heather had given up trying to explain to him that none of it was her fault. She figured she might as well enjoy the weird things if they were going to blame her for it anyways.

"Turd, you're sitting in the middle seat, since it's the most uncomfortable, hurry up and get in," Dudley called over to her. She climbed into the car and buckled herself in, sandwiched between Dudley and Pat. Almost immediately, Dudley starting pinching her legs, trying to get her to say something, Heather knew the minute she said stop would be when Uncle Vernon started yelling at her so she kept her mouth shut. On the other side of her Pat kept crossing and uncrossing his arms. Every time he did so he'd run his fingers down her arm, smiling at her. Heather didn't know which experience was worse; she prayed the zoo wasn't too far away. Dudley eventually gave up pinching Heather, realizing that she wasn't going to make any remarks while Pat decided to look out the window and comment on what he noticed going down the road. Soon enough they arrived at the zoo, Dudley and Pat quickly getting out of the car and running towards the entrance. Heather made sure to stand close to Aunt Petunia, so she couldn't be accused of wandering off and getting into trouble.

The group slowly made their way through the zoo, Heather having a great time, learning about all these exotic species and seeing them in semi-natural habitats. Her favorite exhibit was the Owl exhibit; she found owls to be quite beautiful. As she walked around the exhibit, she noticed one of the owls watching her, hopping from branch to branch, slowly getting closer. Heather leaned in against the low security wall, to get a better look. It was a beautiful owl, light gray plumage with brown streaks going down its chest and belly. Looking around, she quickly spotted the owl's picture. It was a Barred Owl, mostly found in North America and Canada. As she was reading more about the owl, it flew down to the closest branch and regarded Heather with a tilted head. Heather stared into the owl's eyes, feeling something stir inside her but before she could figure out what it was, Dudley walked over.

"Hey, you look like you're having too much fun," Dudley decided as he reached up and grabbed her hair. His was about to yank on it when the owl flew at the fence, grabbing onto it with its talons, screeching and flapping its wings. Dudley jumped back and screamed in terror, flinching away from the bird. Heather looked over at the owl and smiled, glad to have made a friend, somehow. Her smile faded pretty fast when she looked over at Uncle Vernon and saw the nasty look on his face. She quickly waved bye to the bird and followed her uncle to the next exhibit.

They entered the reptile house, seeing all kinds of snakes and lizards. Dudley immediately headed towards the giant monitor lizards, just about to be feed some meat from a zookeeper. Heather, not wanting to watch the feeding, wandered over to the venomous snakes. One of the smaller tanks had a Cape Cobra, a pretty yellow snake. She read the sign saying that it was highly venomous and found in most regions of South Africa. She looked into the tank to see the snake slither past the glass.

"Man, it must really suck being stuck behind this glass all the time, everyone staring at you. I feel like that all the time," mused Heather as she watched the snake. The snake paused in its slither and turned to look at her. The snake reared up and looked at Heather, then at all the people milling about.

"Can you hear me through the glass?"

The snake nodded its head slowly, seemingly entranced by Heather. Heather couldn't believe that the snake was responding to her, people must come up to the glass all the time and try to engage it, what made her special?

"Well, it may suck being in there but at least you are alone, no one to bully you," Heather complained as she looked over at Dudley, who had moved on to look at the tortoises now. The snake tilted its head closer to the glass to look over at Dudley, opening its hood once it caught sight of him. Heather sighed and nodded her head agreeing with the cobra.

"He's really mean to me, and there isn't much I can do about it, his parents let him get away with anything. Any time I try to fight back, I only get into more trouble."

The snake shook his head sadly then turned back to look at Heather, but before Heather could think to ask the cobra any more questions, she felt herself get shoved to the floor, elbow crashing into the concrete floor. As she looked up, she saw Dudley, nose pressed against the glass, looking at the cobra.

"Whoa, look at this one, it's actually doing something, Heather's ugly face must have scared it," he laughed.

Heather was mad, not only did he just shove her onto the ground; he was blatantly making fun of her, she felt her face go red. Pat came over and was about to help her to her feet when Dudley suddenly screamed, jumping back from the tank. The cobra was rising, hood extended, hissing loudly, the glass from the tank suddenly gone. The cobra slid forward out of the tank, lightly dropping onto Heather's legs, everyone screaming and backing away from her. Heather felt her heart beating against her chest but she wasn't really afraid for herself, she just hoped the snake wouldn't hurt anyone and then be put down. The snake looked over at her and gave a quick shake of its head. It continued to slither around her legs, hissing at everyone coming too close. Within minutes some of the reptile experts were around her, hooks and nets in their hands.

"It's okay little girl, we're going to get that cobra off of you in just a moment, don't make any sudden movements. Everything will be okay."

"I'm not worried, just please don't hurt the snake. I'll put it back in the tank and you can grab it from there. But you won't hurt it right?"

"That's not safe, that snake is very venomous and might bite you. But we're not going to hurt the snake, it hasn't bitten anyone, but we'll have to find somewhere to put it to calm it down and find out how it escaped," reassured one of the staff members, perplexed at the missing glass.

Despite their warnings, Heather gently reached forward and cradled the snake in her arms. She slowly stood up and adjusted the snake. One of the staff took a few steps forward, holding out the snake hook. The cobra arched up and hissed, until the employee quickly stepped back. Looking at Heather, the snake relaxed its hood, safe in her hands. She walked over to the tank, still missing the glass, and gently placed her hands inside and let the snake slither off of her arms. She smiled at the snake and took a few steps back, letting one of the staff to cautiously come forward and lift the snake with a hook. Immediately a second employee came forward with a net and together the navigated the snake into the net safely. Everyone started clapping once the snake was in the net, glad for the employees' hard work. Many people came up and pat her on the back, commenting on her courage. The next hand she felt on her shoulder squeezed painfully, it had to be Uncle Vernon but Heather was too afraid to look at his face. If there was anything that could be classified as funny business, it was a dangerous snake escaping its tank and falling right into her lap.

"What do you think you're doing Heather, just look at all this attention you're getting, attention that makes the family look very not normal," hissed Uncle Vernon into her ear.

"Come on children, I think it's time we leave! Dudley, it's okay, that nasty snake is gone now, you're safe," Aunt Petunia said as she hugged Dudley, trying to comfort him.

"But she totally sent the snake after me, you saw it!"

"I did no such thing, how could I send a snake after you, it was behind the glass when I was looking at it!"

"You did it, you had to have, because you're always doing things like this, sticking out like a sore thumb."

"I didn't do anything, how can I just make glass disappear? That's not something I know how to do, can you explain it? It was like magi-"

"Don't say that word!" bellowed Uncle Vernon. "We're going home now, finishing up Dudley's birthday and having a good night!"

Everyone went quiet and started heading back towards the entrance and out to the car. Once they were in the car, Uncle Vernon turned around, face so red it was bordering on purple.

"I'll deal with you when we get back, I don't want to hear a sound on the way home," he growled, glaring at Heather. The ride back seemed painfully quiet, Heather dreading the moment they arrived. All too soon the car was pulling into the drive way and everyone was ordered out of the car. Heather trudged into the house, waiting for Uncle Vernon to yell at her. Dudley smirked as he walked by; Pat looked her with apologetic eyes, unsure of what to say to her. Both of them made their way into the kitchen for dinner and dessert. Uncle Vernon pushed Heather into the living room, turning her around roughly to face him.

"I have no idea what you did back there, but that was the most outrageous thing you have ever done, setting a snake loose," he snapped.

"I told you, I have no idea what happened, the glass was there and then it wasn't. How can you explain that? I can't, I have no idea!" Heather retorted.

"Well it doesn't matter, I know you were behind it you little freak, so you can go to your cupboard and think about today, no dinner. Now get!"

Heather gave him a dark look and stalked to her cupboard. She heard Uncle Vernon slide the lock closed, preventing her from leaving. She flopped down on her bed, angry at everyone, wishing she could come up with a way to get out of here. It would be her birthday in a little over a month and she would probably still be locked in here. Heather was still stewing over the injustice when she heard a light knock on her door.

"Hey, Heather, are you okay?" came a quiet voice.

Heather sat up and looked through the small grate in her door. She saw Pat looking back at her through the grate.

"Pat, what are you doing down here? If Dudley sees you-"

"I know, I know. I told him I needed to use the restroom, and then came down here to see you; I can only stay for a moment really."

"Thanks, I guess. Why are you nice to me Pat, you hang out with Dudley and he's a big meanie."

"Well, I guess, it's because, I-I think... you are, well, p- pretty," Pat stammered, cheeks turning red. Before Heather could think of anything to say, they heard Dudley calling.

"Hey Pat, did you fall in or something, get back upstairs, we have to finish this level before your mom comes to get you."

"Okay! Well I guess I have to go... I'll see you around I guess, hope you aren't stuck in here too long."

"Yea, me too, see you around," Heather quietly responded as he retreated out of sight and upstairs. Heather figured she had another hour or so before her Aunt and Uncle went upstairs, letting her out beforehand to use the bathroom. Then she'd be back in here until the morning. She'd have to find something to do in the meantime, distract herself from being hungry. Before long Pat's mom came to get Pat and the house went quiet again. She searched through her small amount of belongings until she found a sharpened pencil, and then took out her notepad. She'd have to remember to get all her pencils sharpened the next time she was out of her room. She started a new picture, one of the Barred Owl that she saw at the zoo. She hadn't gotten too far when she finally heard her Uncle get up from his chair in the living room. She quickly stuffed the notepad under her pillow and put the pencil in her mug, next to her various pens and markers. She wasn't prohibited from drawing but she'd rather her uncle didn't see it.

"Alright you trouble maker, time for lights out so go use the restroom. Hurry up, go on," Uncle Vernon said as he unlocked her door. Heather quickly got off her small bed and went to the bathroom. Afterwards she returned to her room and watched as Uncle Vernon turned off all the lights, then listened as they went upstairs and closed the door. She waited a half hour before pulling the flashlight off her shelf and retrieving her notepad. Within a few hours she finally fell asleep.

Most of the following week was the same, they'd let her out in the morning, she'd spend the whole day doing any chores. If they left for any reason, she'd be locked back in her room. And of course, each night she was locked away, without dinner, listening to Dudley's jeering remarks. But once her week was up, she was allowed outside the house again, mostly so Aunt Petunia wouldn't have to look at her, just as long as she completed all of her chores each week.


	2. Letter from Hogwart's

A/N: This chapter is completely unfinished, I had writer's block so I skipped ahead to chapter 3 and wrote that. I'm just posting this so you can get an idea for the story and the characters a little more. UPDATE! Almost finished with the chapter but it turned out longer than I thought. But it's almost done.

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The next few weeks were uneventful; Heather spent most of her free time outside, hiding from Dudley and his gang. She had found a few good hiding places around the neighborhood over the years so she could hide out most of the day. They usually gave up chasing her within a few hours and left to go find other kids to torment. Today Heather was lying in the garden outside the Dursley' house, hidden by some bushes; her birthday was coming up next week and she wanted to find some way to celebrate it, in her own way. It wouldn't be long until she was starting school, luckily she wouldn't be attending the same school as Dudley. Just the other day everyone was informed that Dudley got accepted into Smeltings, the same secondary school that Uncle Vernon went to; Heather was going to be going to a public school, thank heavens Smeltings was a boy's only school. At least this way she didn't have to hide from Dudley's gang every day, and it gave her hope that she might be able to actually make friends. She decided it was probably time to head inside, she'd probably need to start dinner soon and it was never a good idea to get home late. She crawled out of the bushes, after first checking Dudley wasn't around. After brushing herself off she made her way into the house, as she walked into the kitchen she saw a pot in the sink. As she walked closer, wondering if Aunt Petunia had already gotten started with dinner, she suddenly gagged at the strong smell. Covering her nose with her shirt she looked into the pot; it looked like a bunch of rags sitting in dirty water.

"Goodness Heather, you are filthy, get out of the kitchen, go change your clothes at least. Out!"

"Sorry Aunt Petunia, I'll go shower. What's in the pots though?"

Aunt Petunia pursed her lips at the question, like it should be obvious, "Those are some of Dudley's old clothes. I needed to dye them gray for you, they are going to be your school uniform."

Heather gave one last glance at the dirty water. She wasn't looking forward to having to wear those baggy clothes but, it was way better than the uniform Dudley had to wear for Smeltings, his made him look like a portly pumpkin carrying a stick. She hurried into the bathroom to shower and change clothes, hoping she might not have to cook tonight. By the time she returned to the kitchen Aunt Petunia had started cooking dinner. She shooed Heather away, not wanting to her touch the meatloaf, it was Aunt Petunia's specialty dinner and never taught Heather the recipe. Heather went to sit in her room until dinner, enjoying a few spare moments. Once dinner was ready Heather got to listen to all of Dudley's adventures. He loved to tell his parents about all the kids he tormented, Uncle Vernon believed if you weren't the bully, you were the bullied. No son of his would ever be bullied, which of course meant Heather was.

The next morning, after making breakfast, Uncle Vernon sat reading the newspaper and Dudley came banging into the kitchen. Ever since he got his uniform for Smeltings, Dudley was taking his Smeltings stick with him everywhere. Uncle Vernon said it was for character building but Heather knew it was just another bullying tool. While they were eating, they heard the clink of the mail slot.

"Go on and get the mail Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his paper.

"Ugh, make Heather get it," complained Dudley.

"Go get the mail Heather."

"Make Dudley get the mail."

"Use your Smeltings stick Dudley,"

Heather managed to dodge Dudley's thrust and made her way to the front door. Casually looking through the mail, she saw an ad, a bill from the electric company; she had half a mind to hide some of the bills under the couch, just so Uncle Vernon would get in trouble. But they would probably find it and know it was her fault, which definitely wouldn't be worth it. The last bit of mail was addressed to her, a heavy envelope with her name written in green ink:

Miss H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surry

Heather turned the envelope over, there was a wax seal bearing a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_.

Heather stumbled back into the kitchen, blinding handing Uncle Vernon the rest of them mail; she didn't take her eyes off the letter. Uncle Vernon was looking over the postcard he got when Dudley called attention to Heather.

"Hey Dad, Heather's got some mail!"

Heather had opened the letter and lifted out some heavy parchment but before she could read any of it, the letter was snatched out of her grasp.

"Hey, that's my letter, let me read it!"

"It's clearly a mistake, who would right to you?"Uncle Vernon sneered, shaking the letter open and looking it over. As Heather and Dudley watched, Uncle Vernon's face turned white, then red, quickly turning green. After staying green for a moment it fading to a nasty grey color.

"P-Petunia, come h-here," he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter from his father's hands but it was being held high out of reach. Aunt Petunia came over and looked the letter over, a moment later it looked like she was going to faint, hand over her throat, a choking sound emanating from her.

"Vernon, what's this? Vernon?"

They looked at each other, troubled over what the letter meant, completely forgetting about the other occupants in the room. Dudley didn't take to kindly to being ignored so he took his Smelting stick and rapped his father on the head.

"I want to read the letter, let me see it!"Dudley yelled.

"It's my letter, I think I have the right to read it first!" Heather called out over her cousin.

"Out of the kitchen, the both of you, go on!"

Heather refused to move, shouting, "THAT'S MY LETTER! Let me read it!"

"Let me see it!" Dudley demanded at the same time.

"GET OUT!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, taking both the kids by the scruff of their necks and tossing them out of the kitchen and slamming the door behind them. The two had a quick scuffle to see who would listen at the keyhole, like before. Dudley used his bigger bulk to knock Heather out of the way, making her lay flat on the floor to listen.

"Vernon, look at this, the address. How could they possibly know where she sleeps? Are they watching the house?" Aunt Petunia asked in a fearful whisper.

"They could be watching us, spying on us- Hell even following us," Vernon muttered wildly.

"What should we do Vernon, should we write back to tell them we don't want-"Aunt Petunia started.

"No, we'll just ignore it," Vernon interrupted, pacing back and forth. "If they don't get an answer, they'll just leave us alone. Yea, that's the best thing to do, nothing."

"But-"

"No Petunia, I will not of one of, them in the house, I will NOT! We swore that when we took her in, we'd stamp that nonsense out of her."

Heather and Dudley looked at each other, unsure what he meant.

Later that evening, when Uncle Vernon returned from work, he reluctantly went and visited Heather in her cupboard.

"Where is my letter?"Heather demanded, the moment Uncle Vernon squeezed into the door. "I want to know who it's from."

"It was a mistake, no one meant to write to you. I've burned the letter so you won't have to worry about it," he informed her.

"There was no way it was a mistake, it had my cupboard on it!"

"SILENCE!" Uncle Vernon yelled before taking a few breaths to calm himself. "About this cupboard Heather, you aunt and I have been discussing that and we think you're getting a little too big for it. We do think it might be best if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Why?" Heather asked, suspicious"

"Don't ask questions, just get this stuff upstairs now," Uncle Vernon snapped, tiring of being nice.

The Dursley's had a four bedroom house: one room for the Dursley's, one for visitors (usually Aunt Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one for all of his stuff. It only took Heather one trip upstairs to get all of her stuff moved. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the mess around her; just about everything in here was broken. There was the old unused tape recorder, a miniature tank that was used to run over the neighbor's dog, a broken TV, an empty birdcage, a broken air rifle, the list went on. Dudley's voice suddenly carried upstairs.

"I don't want her in that room, it's my room, it has all of my stuff in there, I _need_ that room Mom, move her back to the cupboard."

Heather just sighed and lay back on the bed; a month ago she would have loved to be in here but now, she'd much rather be down in her cupboard if it meant she had her letter.

The next morning was quiet, Dudley looked ragged. He had screamed and cried, beat his father with his Smelting stick, kicked his mom, and broke a window, but he still didn't have his room back. Heather was wishing that she had just opened her letter in the hall, then they all would have been spared this mess. She noticed the dark glances that kept passing between Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

When the mail finally arrived, Uncle Vernon made Dudley go get the mail, in an effort to be nice to her. Dudley grumbled and banged his way to the front door, suddenly shouting, "She got another one! 'Miss H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Pri-"

Uncle Vernon rushed to Dudley, Heather right behind him, everyone trying to be the first to get the letter. After a minute of wrestling, with much hitting from the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon stood up, gasping, with the letter in his hand.

"Heather, go to your cupboard- I mean bedroom," he wheezed, "Dudley, you- just go."

Heather stormed to her new room and paced furiously. Someone obviously knew she had been moved out of the cupboard, but how could anyone be aware of that? Whoever it was also seemed to know she hadn't been able to read her first letter, so they had to try again right? It wasn't fair that she wasn't able to read her own mail. This time, Heather had a plan!

Heather stayed up all night, unable to sleep. When the alarm finally read six o'clock in the morning, she tiptoed out onto the landing. She'd have to be really quiet, she couldn't wake up her relatives; she crept down the stairs finding her way in the dark. She'd just wait by the door for the postman to deliver the mail this time; Heather could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, she was almost to the door-

"ARRGH!"

Heather flew in the air, unsure of what just happened; she'd stepped on something rather squishy instead of the doormat. Something that yelled out when she stepped on it.

Lights suddenly clicked on and she was looking down at her uncle's face. Heather felt her heart drop, apparently Uncle Vernon had been lying by the door, making sure Heather didn't do exactly what she was doing. Uncle Vernon yelled at her for a good thirty minutes before tiring and telling her to make a cup of tea. Grumbling, Heather made her way into the kitchen, miserable that Uncle Vernon had the same idea as her. By the time she had made the tea and shuffled back into the front room, the mail fell into Uncle Vernon's lap. She could see three letters addressed in the same green ink as her other letters.

"I want those, they are-" Heather began before he gleefully tore up the letters in front of her face.

Uncle Vernon even went a step further, he stayed home that day and nailed the mail slot shut. He had explain to Aunt Petunia that if the letters couldn't get in, they'd just give up. Aunt Petunia and Dudley watched as he continued to pound in the nails, worried he was going crazy.

On Friday, twelve more letters had arrived for her, stuffed under the door and rolled in with the paper. So Uncle Vernon stayed home once again, doubling his efforts to block all the cracks in the house. Of course he had burned all the new letters for her once; Heather sat dejectedly watching as Uncle Vernon nailed up the doors so none of them could go out.

By Saturday everything seemed to get out of hand; Twenty-four letters had arrived for her various ways, even in the egg cartons that the milkman had to pass through their living room window; all of the neighbors were confused by the Dursley's strange behavior. Uncle Vernon called the post office trying to find someone to complain to and Aunt Petunia shredded all the letters.

Watching all of this, Dudley turned to Heather, "Who would put in this much effort just to talk to you?"

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon was in a much happier mood but looked tired; the past few days had been affecting him. He reminded the kids that there was no post on Sundays, explaining his good mood. Suddenly something came flying down the kitchen chimney, hitting Uncle Vernon on the back of his head. Suddenly thirty or forty letters came shooting out of the fireplace, one after the other. The Dursley's ducked out of fear but Heather bent down and tried to scoop up a letter.

"OUT OF THE KITCHEN!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, throwing Heather and Dudley out, taking the letters out of Heathers hands. Aunt Petunia followed them out, hands over her face, Uncle Vernon slammed the door behind them, breathing hard. The noise in the kitchen grew as more and more letters came into the kitchen.

"I've had enough of this," Uncle Vernon decided. "Everyone pack your stuff, I want you ready to go in five minutes. We're leaving the house, pack clothes, go!"

Uncle Vernon had a crazy look in his eye and no one dared argue with him about his decision. Ten minutes later they made their way through the (now unboarded) front door and into the car. As they sped down the highway, Heather could hear Dudley sniffling next to her, he had tried to smuggle his computer into his sports bag and Uncle Vernon had smacked him upside the head.

They drove for miles, often changing directions, 'to confuse them' Uncle Vernon had said; no one in the car dared ask where they were headed.

They didn't stop to get food all day, Dudley was completely miserable. He was hungry, missed his favorite TV show, and wanted to play his video games but instead he was stuck in a car with his annoying cousin. Worst day ever he concluded. When they finally did stop, it was at a rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. Dudley and Heather had to share a room, Dudley snoring all night and Heather was unable to sleep.

In the morning they had old cereal and canned peaches for breakfast. The owner of the motel knocked on their door, asking if there was an H. Potter in the room. He had received over a hundred letters for Heather that morning; Heather eagerly tried to take the letter he held in his hand but Uncle Vernon blocked her.

"I'll pick them up, sorry about that," he offered as he followed the owner to the main office.

Once again they were back in the car and driving, Aunt Petunia once suggesting they just go back home but her pleas fell upon deaf ears. Uncle Vernon stopped the car in the most random of places, getting out to inspect the area before deciding it wasn't the right spot.

"Daddy's gone mad hasn't he?" Dudley asked his mom later that afternoon. They had been parked along the coast, Uncle Vernon locking them all in the car and disappeared awhile ago. It eventually started to rain, the day turning gloomy. Dudley started to sniffle again, complaining about missing another television show, he didn't want to miss anymore, it was Monday afternoon, he needed a TV.

When Heather heard him say that is was Monday, Heather realized that tomorrow was her eleventh birthday. She knew nothing special was going to happen tomorrow but she was going to find something to do on her birthday regardless; you only turn eleven once after all.

Uncle Vernon eventually came back to the car, a huge grin on his face and a long slim package under his arm.

"Alright everyone, out of the car, I've found the perfect place for us to stay tonight, let's go. As they got out of the car, they started to shiver, the weather was freezing. They could see Uncle Vernon pointed out to sea, at a giant rock, with a small house built on top of the rock. Heather was absolutely certain that there wasn't going to be any TV in there.

"There is going to be a storm tonight, that means rough waves," Uncle Vernon told them gleefully. "And I even found us a boat to rent to get out to the shack, everyone in."

The trip to the rock was miserable, icy foam sprayed into the boat, drenching everyone and the wind was biting. They eventually made their way to the rock and carefully climbed up towards the door of the shack. The shack was worse on the inside, there were giant cracks n the boards and the whole place smelled like seaweed. There were only two rooms and a damp fireplace.

Uncle Vernon pulled out some bags of chips and bananas for them to eat for dinner. He wasn't able to start a fire, the chip bags just smoked.

"Well at least we won't have to worry about any post out here now will we?"

Uncle Vernon was in a good mood, finally believing he had beaten the mysterious letter writers. Heather had to admit he was probably right and it devastated her, she really wanted to know who was writing her.

The storm grew in strength as the night wore on, wind screaming against the feeble walls of the shack. Aunt Petunia managed to find a few moldy blankets for them; Dudley making a bed on the lumpy sofa and the Dursley's on the bed in the next room. Heather had to sleep on the floor in the most comfortable place she could find with the thinnest blanket out of the bunch.

Heather couldn't sleep as the storm grew in ferocity, staring out the rain washed window. She was miserable on the floor, shivering and cold, trying to get warm under the blanket. Ignoring her stomach's rumbles she focused on Dudley's watch, his arm had fallen off the couch. It was almost midnight, Heather would be eleven soon; she wondered if the Dursley's would even remember her birthday after all the commotion from the last few days.

With five minutes to go Heather heard a creak outside and vaguely wondered if the roof was going to collapse on them. She tried to cheer herself up by thinking that the house would be so full of letters when they finally got back that she'd be able to grab one to read. Heather started to count down to her birthday: ten, nine, eight, maybe she'd wake up Dudley, that was sure to annoy him, three, two, one-

BOOM.

Everything shook, Heather sitting upright, heart pounding, staring at the door. Someone was out there knocking on the door.

With another loud bang, Dudley jumped awake, mumbling, unsure if he was still dreaming. Uncle Vernon crashed through the bedroom door, a rifle in his hands; that's what had been in the package early.

"Who is it? Don't come in, I'm armed!"

After a moment of silence, the door came crashing in, hit clean off its hinges. Standing in the doorway was a giant man, face covered in wild hair and bushy beard. The giant squeezed into the small hut, having to duck to fit in the small hovel. He reached down and fit the door back in place to drown out the storm. The man stomped over to the couch that Dudley sat on, frozen in fear.

"Make some room, you big lump," he told Dudley.

Dudley let out a mild scream and ran to hid behind his mother, who was hiding behind Uncle Vernon.

"Ah, Heather, there you are," he said as he turned to her.

Heather looked at the giants face, seeing him break into a smile under all that beard.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," remarked the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

Uncle Vernon made a small sputtering noise before finally finding his voice, "I demand that you leave here at once sir!"

"Ah shut up Dursley, no one asked you," he scolded, reaching over and ripping the rifle out of Uncle Vernon's hands. He quickly bent in a knot and threw it over his shoulder.

"Anyway, Heather, Happy Birthday to yeh," the giant said as he turned his attention back to her, "I got summat for yeh here, I may have sat on it along the way but it'll taste alright."

He dug around in his jacket and pulled out a slightly squashed box and handed it to Heather. She opened it with shaky hands, looking inside and she saw a large chocolate cake with _Happy Birthday Heather_ spelled out in green icing.

Heather looked up at the giant, trying to say thank you but her mouth wouldn't work right. Instead she ended up asking, "Who are you?"

The man chuckled in response, "That's righ' I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

He took Heathers hand in his and shook her entire body.

"How 'bout some tea then?" he asked, rubbing his hands together. Just then he spotted the crumpled up bags and laughed at their attempt to make a fire. He bent down, blocking their view, but when he leaned back on the couch, there was a roaring fire. Heather felt the heat spread through the enter shack, warming her thoroughly.

She watched at the man started taking piles of stuff out of his pockets: a tea kettle, a small package of sausages, a fire poker, a couple of tea mugs, and a bottle of some liquid. Soon the hut was full of the sound of sizzling sausages and warming tea. No one in the hut said anything as the giant cooked but Dudley started to whimper as he pulled the first six sausages off the fire poker.

"Don't touch anything he gives you Dudley!" Uncle Vernon warned.

The giant heard this and laughed, "Yer son could stand to go on a diet Dursley, don't worry about me givin' him anything."

He handed the sausages to Heather, who had never tasted anything so delicious. After she had finished the sausages, she realized no one seemed like they were going to explain anything so she asked him a question, "I'm sorry, but I'm still not really sure who you are?"

"Call me Hagrid, an' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh know all about Hogwarts by now o' course."

"Actually I have no idea what you're talking about." Heather looked at him apologetically.

"What do yeh mean you don't know anything about Hogwarts? I knew they weren't giving you yer letters but to not tell you anything?" Didn't yeh ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"Learned all of what exactly?"

"WHAT?" Hagrid rumbled, "wait just one second!"

Hagrid jumped to his feet and rounded on the Dursley's, who were cowering against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me that Heather know nothing 'bout ANYTHING?"

"Well now I know some things, like math and stuff," Heather offered.

Hagrid waver his hand at her, "No I mean about _our_ world, well _your_ world. _My_ world, _your_ parents' world.

"What are you talking about sir?"

Hagrid rounded on her relatives again, "DURSLEY!"

Uncle Vernon just mumbled something and turned a ghastly pale. Hagrid turned back to Heather, eyes wide.

"Yeh at least know abou' yer parents right? I mean, they're famous, _you're_ famous!"

"My mom and dad were famous? Are you sure?"

"Yeh really don't know do you?" Hagrid asked as he ran his hands through his hair.

Uncle Vernon finally managed to say something other than a mumble, "Stop right there, I forbid you to tell him anything else."

Hagrid fixed him with a furious stare, his words dripping with rage, "You never told her? Never told her what was in the letter? I was there, I saw Dumbledore leave her a letter Dursley. An' you've kept it from her all these years?"

"Kept what from me?" Heather just about shrieked, eager to know what was going on.

"STOP TALKING! I FORBID YOU FROM SAYING ANY MORE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, panicking.

"Oh shut it Dursleys, Heather you're a witch."

No one spoke, the wind whistling through the hut,

"Excuse me?"

"A witch o' course," Hagrid repeated, sitting back on the lumpy couch. "An' a great one at that I'm sure, once you've been trained some. With a mum and dad like yers, how could yeh go wrong? It's about time yeh read yer letter."

Hagrid reached into his pockets once more and held out a letter for Heather. She held out her hands, taking the letter, addressed to Miss H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. She shakily opened the envelope and pulled out the letter:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, _

_Suprreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,  
_Deputy Headmistress_

Questions of all sorts suddenly exploded in Heather's head, she couldn't decide what to ask first. Finally she asked, "What do they mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," Hagrid said, smacking his forehead. From another pocket he pulled out an owl, a long quill, and a roll of parchment. He quickly scribbled a note:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
Given Harry his letter.  
Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.  
Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.  
Hagrid

Heather watched as Hagrid rolled up the parchment and gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak and took off into the storm. Heather had watched the whole thing, her mouth hanging open.

"Now where was I?" Hagrid thought. Suddenly Uncle Vernon moved closer to the man.

"She's not going."

"Oh I'd like to see a Muggle like you to stop her."

"A what?"

"Oh, Muggle, that's what we call non-magic folk," he explained to her.

"We swore when we took her in that we'd put a stop to that rubbish, we aren't having a witch in our house!" Uncle Vernon stated.

"You KNEW? You knew I was a witch?" Heather asked incredulously.

"Knew? Of course we knew!" Aunt Petunia suddenly shrieked, "how could we not know, when my sister was what she was. She got her letter too and disappeared off to that-that school. She came home every vacation and paraded what she learned for our parents. I was the only one who saw her for what she was- she was a freak! Oh but Mother and Father, they loved her, Lily this and Lily that, they were so proud."

She took a deep breath, suddenly wanting to let it all out, "Then she met that Potter fellow at school and they left and got married and had you! I knew you'd be just like her, just as weird, as abnormal! And then, pretty as you please she went and get herself blown up and we got stuck with you!"

Heather had sat and listened to her aunt, her face gone very white, finally finding her voice, "Blown up? You told me that my parents died in a car crash!"

"CAR CRASH!" Hagrid roared, jumping up off the couch once more. "How could the great Lily and James Potter die in a car crash? That's an outrage! How could Heather Potter not know her own story when every child in our world knows her name!"

"If they didn't die in a car crash, what did happen to them?"

Hagrid looked over at Heather, rage leaving his face, suddenly looking anxious.

"I never expected this, I had no idea. Dumbledore said it might be hard to get ahold of yeh, and we didn't know how much you'd know. Heather, I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tell you but, yeh got a right to know. I can't let yeh go off to Hogwarts not knowing about yer parents."

He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys, not knowing how they could keep such a big thing secret.

"I guess it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh, although I don't know everything, parts of it are still a mystery. It started with a person called- it's weird yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows his name-"

"Knows who?"

"Uh, I don't like ter say his name, no one does really, bad memories. He did a lot of evil things, people are still scare o' him. He was a wizard that went bad, very bad."

"Maybe you could write it down for me?"

"Naw, I don't know how ter spell it, his name was –Voldemort," he finally managed with a shudder, "Now don't ask me to say it again. This wizard, about twenty years ago started looking for people who believed in his cause, some followers. He got em too, some were people that were afraid, some wanted power. Those were dark days Heather, you didn't know who ter trust, terrible things were happenin' all the time. He killed anyone who stood against him. One of the only safe places left was Hogwarts, people reckon'd he was afraid of Dumbledore. Dumbledore might've been the only wizard You-Know-Who was truly afraid of.

"Now, yer mum and dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy and Girl at Hogwarts in their day! I suppose You-Know-Who never talked them into following him 'cause he knew they'd never go to the Dark Side.

"Maybe he just wanted them outta the way, no one knows. All we know is that one night he turned up, in the village you were living in on Halloween ten years ago. Yeh were just a year old then. He came to yer house and he-he,"

Hagrid suddenly blew his nose in a handkerchief, sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry, it's just very sad, yer parents were good friends of mine. They were nice people. And You-Know-Who killed them. He tried to kill you too, wanted to get rid of all the Potters. But he wasn't able to, instead you ended up with that scar on yer forehead and he disappeared. That scar, that's a mark of a powerful and evil curse, the same curse that killed yer mum and dad, even yer house. And that's why yer famous Heather, that curse didn't work on yeh. No one lived after he decided the kill someone, but he couldn't kill you, a little baby."


	3. The Adventure Begins

Heather couldn't believe how fast the next month went; everyone in the house pretty much ignored her, wanting nothing to do with her strangeness. Heather didn't mind much, in fact her life became easier; now every time she walked into a room Dudley went pale and quickly left, afraid to be alone with her. He wasn't allowed to invite his friend over to torment her either; Uncle Vernon didn't want them to find out about Heather. As September 1st was approaching, Heather knew she'd have to ask for a ride to King's Cross Station, the thought of approaching Uncle Vernon scared her slightly but it had to be done. Walking into the living room, Heather approached Uncle Vernon in his chair, reading the paper.

"Excuse me Uncle Vernon?"

Uncle Vernon gave a grunt, not putting the paper down.

"I was wondering if you could give me a ride to the train station tomorrow, please?"

Another grunt which Heather took as a good sign, she quietly said thank you and returned to her new room. That was easier than she thought it would be, now she just had to make sure all of her new stuff was packed away. She feed Hedwig and lay on her bed, trying to get some sleep.

The next morning Heather placed her stuff in the trunk and put Hedwig's cage on the seat between her and Dudley.

"Thanks again Uncle Vernon."

"Don't mention it, we were planning on heading into London anyways, otherwise you would have been on your own. We're taking Dudley to a specialist, to see about... well you know."

The rest of the ride was quiet, everyone afraid to speak. When Heather saw the station out her window, she felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter. Uncle Vernon quickly pulled into a spot and told Dudley and Petunia to stay in the car. He even helped Heather put her trunk on one of the trolleys. Heather hurried into the station; Uncle Vernon followed her into the station with an uncharacteristic smile on his face. She wasn't sure why he was in a good mood until they came to a stop by platform 9.

"Well, would you look at that, there's platform 9 and there's platform 10. Oh, what's this? No platform 9 ¾ now is there?" Uncle Vernon stated with a mean smile.

Sure enough as Heather looked at the platforms, there wasn't anything pointing her to the platform she needed.

"Good luck getting to school, maybe if we're lucky you won't come back," he called over his shoulder. She watched him walk away, unsure of what to do next. She wasn't going to go after him and try to ask for help, or a ride back. She knew her ticket couldn't be wrong, but Hagrid must have forgotten to make sure she could actually find the train. Heather looked around nervously, she had no idea where to go and it wasn't like she could just ask a guard. She wandered the station, trying to stay close to platform 9 and look for someone like herself while remaining as ambiguous as possible. If she had a pet with her then the other students must as well and there had to be some students that still needed to find their way to the train.

Just as she was starting to give up, some people walked by and Heather overheard one of them mention how Muggle stations were always so crowded. Turning around quickly she saw a family, a mother, four girls and a younger boy in tow, all with red hair walking towards platform girls had large trunks just like her and they even had owls with them, they just had to be going to Hogwarts too. Following closely behind the family, Heather was hoping to see how they got onto the platform. The family stopped and their mother collected her children around her.

"Okay girls, you better hurry up and get onto the platform, the train is leaving very soon. Prudence darling, you go on ahead first ok."

Heather watched closely as the oldest girl with titian hair started walking towards platform 9 and 10. As she looked on, the girl disappeared behind a crowd and was gone. Heather couldn't be sure what happened so she nervously scooted closer to the family.

"Alright then, Faye, Geminy, you two next."

Two of the sisters, twins, started walking towards the platform just like the first girl.

"Mom, I'm starting to think that you call us both at the same time just so you don't have to try and tell us apart," one of the girls said.

"That's not true, I'm your mother, of course I can tell you apart, now hurry up."

Heather saw the twins smile at their mother and then move towards the barrier, still not understanding how this worked and really didn't want to get left behind. They both disappeared from view when they got to the barrier. She still didn't understand where they were going, or how they disappeared, Heather knew that she was going to have to be brave and ask outright. She nervously came up next to the woman.

"Umm, excuse me ma'am, could you help me?"

"Yes? Is it your first time dear?" she asked with a smile as she saw Heather. Heather nodded sheepishly and looked around. "It's Roanne's first time as well, no need to be nervous," she said as she pointed over to the youngest girl. She was taller than Heather, skinny as well, with bright red hair held back with a black headband and freckles across her cheeks

"How exactly do I- get there?"she asked.

"Well it's quite simple, all you do is aim for the barrier, between 9 and 10. Don't be scared, just keep a steady pace, maybe taking it at a slight run would be better if you're nervous. Now you go on ahead of Roanne and we'll be right behind you."

Heather nodded her head and looked towards the barrier, unsure if this would work. The barrier definitely looked solid enough but she had to try. Taking a deep breath she started rolling her trolley towards the barrier. Making sure the coast was clear of traffic she picked up the pace a bit, lightly jogging. She closed her eyes as she got close to the barrier, praying she wouldn't crash and make a scene. When she realized the crash never came, she quickly opened her eyes and saw that she was through the barrier. Looking back, she saw a wrought iron archway, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters; she had actually made it. Heather let out her breath and smiled, looking around for the lady that helped her through. She smiled and waved to Roanne and her mom and then made her way over to the train, the others looking to locate the first girls that went through the barrier. Heather looked out at the scarlet train in front of her, unable to stop smiling. She hurried made her way through the crowd, looking for a vacant spot in the cars. She found one toward the end of the train and placed Hedwig inside first then started to heave her heavy trunk into the compartment. It didn't take long before she realized she was going to need help, no way was she going to be able to lift it all the way up. Just as she started to look about for help, one of the copper haired, green eyed twins from earlier came up.

"Need a hand there?"

"Oh yes please, it is way too heavy for me."

"No problem, you're young still. Hey Faye, get over and help will ya?" the twin called over her shoulder.

With the help of the twins, Heather was able to get her trunk into the compartment next to Hedwig's cage. She stood up, panting and wiping her bangs behind her ear.

"Hey, wait a sec, is that... a scar?"asked one of the twins, pointing to Heather's forehead.

"No way, it can't be. Are you-?" started the other twin, looking intently at her scar.

"You have to be, right? Heather Potter?"the first twin finished.

Heather looked up confused at first, forgetting that she was some kind of famous in this world. She nodded her head, "Yea, I am she."

The pair of them looked at her with awe and intensity, Heather could feel herself going red. Just then Heather heard Roanne's mom calling for her daughters. The twins offered a quick smile and climbed out of the train to see their mom. Heather quickly found a seat by a window and opened it, so she could hear what they were saying.

"Ah there you two are where is Prudence?"

"She's coming this way now."

Heather could see the oldest daughter coming towards them from the head of the train, already dressed in her black robes and with a badge on.

"I came to say good bye, I must get back up to the front of the train, we prefects have a pair of compartments to ourselves up front."

"Oh, how nice for you Prue, how perfect, you're a prefect now."

"Prue, how come you didn't tell us sooner?" asked one of the twins, a hurt look on her face.

"Oh wait, I remember it now, you did mention it, that one time, you know-"

"Yea, it was right before dinner, like only every night! How could we have forgotten?"

"Whatever."Prue scoffed.

"Prudence, I'm proud of you, becoming a prefect. You have a good term dear, send me an owl when you get settled, let us know you're okay."

Her mother kissed her on the cheek and waved as she left to go back to the front of the train.

"Mom, how come Prue gets nice new things?"one of the twins sulked.

"Because she's worked hard and became a prefect. Unlike you two! I swear you both better behave this year, I don't want any more owls sent home saying that you're causing any kind of trouble. Not like when you bewitched the suits of armor to say naughty things at people. You hear me? Look after your sister and try to set a good example," scolded their mother before giving each girl a hug in turn.

"Oh don't worry little Anniekins is safe with us," one of the twins teased while the other ruffled her hair.

"Stop it! I told you, it's Ronnie, not Annie!" she yelled as she shoved her sister's hand away from her, straightening her bangs.

"Oh Mom, you'll never believe who we meant on the train," one twin immediately remembered.

"Yea, that girl that was by us in the station, that was Heather Potter!" the other finished enthusiastically.

"What, Heather Potter?" squeaked the little boy with auburn hair, "Can I go see her Mom, please?"

"Now now Garen, you've already seen her, and besides she doesn't need that kind of attention on her first day. That poor girl, no wonder she was all alone at the station and didn't know where to go."

"I don't believe you, how do you know for sure?" the youngest girl asked, crossing her arms, totally disbelieving.

"Well if you must know Sis, we saw her scar- asked if it was her," replied the twins in unison.

"You two are forbidden to ask her any personal question regarding her past, I don't want you to bring up any horrible memories, you just leave her be!" warned their mom, seeing the curiosity bubbling in the twins' eyes.

Then she hurriedly gave all three of them hugs and kisses before shooing them onto the train. Their brother started wiping his eyes hurriedly, so they wouldn't see him crying.

"Aww don't worry Garen, we'll send you lots of owls, maybe even snacks from the teacher's lounge," called out one twin with a wink.

"Geminy, don't you even think about sneaking into places you aren't supposed to be!" yelled their mother.

"Okay Mom, we were only joking," hastily replied the second twin.

The little boy began to run along as the train pulled out of the station, waving, laughing and crying all at the same time. Before long the train station was out of sight and all Heather could see out her window was the rolling landscape. She leaned back into her seat and wondered what was going to happen when they got to Hogwarts. Heather was lost in thought when she heard the compartment door open. She looked over to see the youngest red haired girl at the door.

"Can I sit with you, everywhere else is full?" she asked quietly, her blue eyes hopeful.

"Yea, of course," Heather answered happily.

"I'm Roanne, well I guess you remember me, are you really-you know, Heather Potter?"Roanne asked nervously.

"Yea that's me, see, I have the scar and everything," Heather replied as she lifted her bangs.

"Whoa, no way. Does, it ever hurt or anything? Do you-remember anything at all?"

"Naw, it doesn't really bother me, unless I have a nightmare. And I guess I have dreams sometimes but all I ever remember is a lot of green light."

Roanne suddenly turned red, remembering that her mom told her not to ask such questions.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked... Mom told me not to."

"Oh it's okay, I don't really mind. There isn't much to tell now is there?"

Suddenly the door opened again and Roanne's twin sisters were there.

"Hey Ronnie, you should come up a few compartments, Lee's got a giant tarantula, it's awesome."

"Um, how about no, that's so gross" she replied with a shudder

"Oh hey, Heather, we never did introduce ourselves, I'm Faye and this is my twin Geminy. See you girls later."

Heather watched as they slid the door closed and went back the way they came.

"Roanne, is your whole family full of witches?"

"Yea, as far as I know they are."

"Wow, so you must already know a lot of magic, I wish I did."

"Oh yea, you live with Muggles don't you? What is it like?" Roanne asked eagerly, just as curious about Heather's lifestyle as she was about Roanne's.

"It's just awful. Well not all Muggles mind you, but the ones I live with, just awful. I wish I had three older sisters who were witches, that would be great."

"Actually, I have five older sisters, and then my younger brother. Maybe for you it would be fun but, I think it kinda sucks. I mean, I've had five witches go to Hogwarts ahead of me. That's a lot to live up to. My oldest sisters were big shots, one a Quidditch captain and the other a Head Girl. Prue started this year as a prefect. Faye and Geminy do get into a lot of trouble but, they are smart, get good grades and everyone just loves them and they play Quidditch as well. I don't really feel like I can live up to all that. And Garen doesn't really have to worry because he's a boy, so he doesn't have to really follow in his sister's footsteps. Anything he does will be a first really, so if he becomes a Quidditch star, he'd be the only boy to do it. I'm kinda stuck with nothing," Roanne explained, a gloomy look on her face.

"Is it really that bad though? I mean sure, you might feel like you have expectations to live up to, but at least you have sisters there that will look out for you. I've got no one, I didn't even know about magic at all until my birthday," Heather pointed out.

"Yea, I guess that's something. But you never really get anything new when you have that many older sisters. It's all hand-me-downs. I have this robe from my eldest sister Winny, the old wand from Cady. Even my pet rat, Scabbers is a hand-me-down. Prue got an owl for becoming a prefect but we just can't affo- I mean, I got Scabbers since Prue didn't need him anymore," she added as she pulled a sleeping rat from her jacket pocket.

Roanne started to turn pink, clearly thinking that being poor was one of the worst things. She looked away from Heather, out the window. Heather didn't think being poor was bad, it just happened sometimes. She had never really had anything of her own either so she could understand Roanne's feelings.

"Don't feel so bad Roanne, I never had anything of my own growing up. I was always just given my cousins old clothes, and he's a boy. So at least you got some girl hand-me-downs." Heather shared, hoping to cheer her up. Roanne smiled at this and they started sharing stories of how they grew up. Heather was explaining how she first came to know about being a witch.

"... Hagrid was surprised I didn't know anything, He had to explain everything about magic, my parents, even Voldemort-"

"Oh my gosh, did you just say... You-Know-Who's name?" Roanne gasped, wide-eyed. "I thought, you of all people..."

"Oh, well I didn't know I shouldn't say it, I'm not trying to prove anything. I guess I really do have a lot to learn," Heather sighed. She looked out the window, a sudden thought coming to her mind. "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

Roanne shook her head, "No, lots of students come from Muggle families, everyone learns quickly enough though. I wouldn't worry about it."

Heather and Roanne continued to share stories for awhile, and then sat quietly, watching the land roll by windows. Around noon they both heard a cart coming down the corridor and then a woman appeared before their door. She slid the door to their compartment open.

"Would you dears like anything from the trolley?" she asked with a smile.

Heather jumped up from the seat heading over to the trolley; now that she had some spending money, she was ready to splurge a little. She looked over at sweets on the trolley, there was nothing at all that she recognized. Instead of chocolate bars or gummies, there were Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Licorice Wands, and many other new things. Heather bought a little of everything, not wanting to miss out on all these new things. She paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. She looked over and asked Roanne if she was getting anything. Roanne turned pink and mumbled something about having brought sandwiches. Heather shrugged and tipped all the sweets onto the seat next to her.

"Well aren't you hungry?"

"Yea, starving, I didn't eat anything for breakfast this morning, I was way too nervous," Heather replied around a mouth full of pumpkin pasty.

Meanwhile Roanne had taken out her package of sandwiches, wearily picking one apart, sighing, "She never remembers that I really don't like corned beef."

She put the sandwich back together and put them on the seat next to her.

"I'll trade ya, one of your sandwiches for a pasty?"Heather offered.

"Naw, I doubt you'll like it, it's all dry, Mom hasn't got much time, you know with five of us and all," she hastily explained.

"Go ahead and have some, I'm really not going to try and eat all of this myself, I don't mind sharing," Heather reassured her with a smile.

Roanne grinned and took a pasty, both of them smiling as they sat there eating the sweets. Heather was happy to have someone she could share stuff with and enjoy someone's company for once.

Heather held up a pack of Chocolate Frogs and asked, "These aren't really frogs are they?"

"No, they are chocolate, but go ahead and open it, see what the card is. If it's Agrippa, can I have it?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Each pack of Chocolate Frogs has a card inside. You can collect them; they have famous witches and wizards on them. I've got a ton at home, but I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."

Heather unwrapped her Frog and picked up the card. It had a picture of a man in half-moon spectacles, a long crooked nose, and a flowing silver beard and mustache. Underneath the picture was his name, Albus Dumbledore.

"Oh wow, this is Dumbledore!" Heather exclaimed.

"Have you really not heard of Dumbledore?" asked Roanne as she helped herself to some of the frogs.

Heather turned over the card and read:

_Albus Dumbledore_

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

As Heather turned the card back over, she saw that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"Hey, he's gone," she gasped.

"Well, yea, can't expect him to just sit around all day now can you? Don't worry, he'll be back though. Aw man, I got Morgana again, I've got plenty of her, do you want her? You can start collecting too."

Heather took the card from Roanne and stared at the pictures as they moved, she explained to Roanne, "You know, in the Muggle world, pictures of people don't move, they stay put."

"No way, they don't move at all, how boring!"Roanne said, amazed at the idea. As the two continued to eat their way through the Chocolate Frogs, Heather's collection of cards started to grow. Eventually Heather put aside her cards and picked up the bag of Bernie Bott's Ever Flavor Beans. As she opened the bag, Roanne looked over.

"You'll want to be careful with those, they really make every flavor, not just the normal ones, but things like grass, liver, even tripe," she warned.

Heather carefully looked in the bag, unsure if she wanted to try them, she wasn't too keen on every flavor now that Roanne had explained it. She gingerly reached into the bag and grabbed a few, taking small nibbles of each before passing the bag to Roanne. They definitely weren't her favorite things; she'd had enough of taste-testing things with Dudley. As they put the bag of beans down, there was another yet another knock on the door. They looked over as a very tearful round-faced girl opened the door.

"E-excuse me b-but –sniffle- have either of you seen a toad around?"

Both of them shook their heads apologetically and she wailed, "I've lost h-him again, wh-what am I going to do?"

"Oh don't worry; he's bound to turn up again right?"

"I hope so, but if you do see him, hold on to him for me," she sniffled as she shut the door and continued on her search.

"Hmm, maybe I should try and lose Scabbers like that, he's pretty useless too. Although I'm sure Mom would have a fit."Roanne said as she looked over at the sleeping rat next to her.

"You wouldn't even be able to tell the difference if he were to die. I tried to turn him pink the other day, but it didn't work. I could show you, we'll see if it works now," Roanne offered as she dug through her trunk and found her wand. Just as she sat down and held up her hand-me-down wand, some of the core coming out of the tip, the compartment door opened. The chubby girl with the missing toad was back and this time there was a tall boy with her. He was even already wearing his black school robes.

"Have either of you seen a toad around, Ninette here has lost hers," he asked. He had messy spiked brown hair, brown eyes, perfect teeth and a bossy voice.

"We already told her that we hadn't, we'll keep an eye out though," Heather explained. But the boy wasn't listening; he had sat down next to Roanne.

"Oh, are you going to try some magic, let's see."

"Um, ok, I guess," Roanne said as she cleared her throat.

_"Pansies, ribbons, pretty ink_

_Turn this silly fat rat pink"_

She waved her wand with a flourish, but nothing happened, Scabbers stayed fast asleep and very gray.

"Are you sure that's a real spell," asked the boy dubiously. "Doesn't seem to be very good is it. I've tried out a few simple spells myself at home, and they all worked for me. This all came as a great surprise, both of my parents are Muggles of course, actually no one in my family is magical at all that we know of. So of course it was such a surprise when I got my letter to attend Hogwarts. I've read that it is _the_ best school of wizardry there is. I am so excited to be going; I even learned all of the course books by heart. Oh, by the way, I'm Howe Granger, and you two are?"

All of this was said very fast, Heather was amazed that any boy could talk so fast. She looked over at Roanne, clearly relieved that her stunned face meant she hadn't learned the course books by heart either.

"I'm Roanne Weasley, but I prefer most people to call me Ronnie, definitely NOT Annie or Roan. Ronnie," she stated adamantly.

"And I'm Heather Potter."

"No way, for real?" Howe said as he looked her over, then stated matter-of-factly, "I know all about you of course- I picked up extra books, I wanted to learn everything I could before I got here. You're of course mentioned in _Modern Magical History,_ and the_ Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts,_ and even _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

"Am I really?" Heather asked, dumbfounded.

"Do you really not know about yourself? I would have read up anything and everything about me, had I found out I was famous. But then again, I guess I just like to learn things," Howe said. Then quickly changes subjects, he asked, "Do either of you know what houses you'll be in? I've been asking around, and from all the research I've done, I hear that Gryffindor is the best by far, so I really hope I'm in that house. I even heard that Dumbledore was in that house. But, I do suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad if I had to name my second choice. Anyways, we best be on our way, got to find Ninette's toad. And don't forget to change, I'm sure we'll be at the school before long."

And just like that, Howe and the girl were back out the door.

"Dear God he talks fast, I don't think he knows how to shut up. I definitely hope I'm not in his house, whatever it may be," stated Ronnie as she put her wand back in her trunk. "And of course that spell didn't work, I bet Geminy knew it was a fake spell, they are always playing tricks on me, it's not fair."

"What house are your sisters in anyways?"

"Gryffindor, everyone in my family has been in it so far. I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm not in it," Ronnie answered glumly. "I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad from what I heard. And even Hufflepuff would definitely be preferable than ending up in Slytherin. I think I'd rather die than tell my parents I ended up in that house."

"Slytherin. That's the house that Voldemort was in right?"

"Gah, would you not say his name please?" Ronnie shuddered.

"Sorry, sorry, You-Know-Who. Why can't we say his name?"

"It inspires fear in everyone. He really did awful things, so of course we shouldn't say his name," she answered as she sat back in her seat, depressed look on her face.

Heather decided to take Ronnie's mind off of which house they might end up in, so she started asking more questions about her family.

"What is it exactly that your older sisters do, now that they are out of Hogwarts, what is it people do as jobs?"

"Well my oldest sister, Winnie, she's in Africa right now, doing work for Gringotts and my other sister, Cady, she works with dragons in Romania."

"Cady, that's an interesting name."

"Well it's short for Cadence, but no one is allowed to call her that, only Mom. Same with Winnie, her name is Winona but we all just shorten it. Oh, speaking of Winnie and Gringotts, did you read the news of what happened at Gringotts? It's been in the papers, but I do guess you wouldn't get those with your Muggle relatives. Someone tried to rob a high security vault. I can't believe it, Gringotts is supposed to be impossible to break into."

"No way, did they say which vault? Or if anything was taken?"

"No, they don't think so, not that they know for sure, they were never caught. Dad thinks it must have been a powerful Dark wizard, not just anyone can break into that place. It's really big news, some think that You-Know-Who might be behind it, but he's supposed to be gone right?"

Heather shrugged, not really knowing anything of wizarding news. She was starting to feel apprehensive every time Who-Know-Who was mentioned; she liked it better when she could say Voldemort and not worry about it. But that must just be a part of entering the magical world, there was the good and the bad.

"So, change of subject, who's your favorite Quidditch team?" Ronnie asked.

"Umm... Quidditch? I have no idea what that is," Heather replied looking confused.

"Oh yea, I keep forgetting. Just you wait though, Quidditch is really amazing, and you'll love it I'm sure."

Ronnie immediately starting explaining Quidditch, telling Heather about the four balls and the seven positions, all different kinds of broomsticks there were. They were just getting into the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open. Three girls in Hogwarts robes entered from the hall and Heather recognized the blonde girl from Madam Malkin's robe shop. She was definitely looking at Heather more carefully than when they met in Diagon Alley.

"So, is it true what everyone is saying? That Heather Potter is here on the train?" she said looking at Heather.

"Yea, I'm Heather Potter," Heather replied, eyeing the two large girls standing on either side of the pale girl. They looked very mean and slightly manly, broad shoulders and thickset.

Seeing where Heather was looking, the girl introduced them, "That's Vaness Crabbe and Gennifer Goyle. And I'm Despina Malfoy."

Roanne suddenly coughed, trying to hide a giggle. Despina fixed her with an icy stare.

"Think my name is funny do you? I don't even need to ask your name, with all your red hair and freckles. You're one of the Weasleys; My Mother always told me that your parents have more children than they can afford, must suck to be you, with your obvious hand-me-down clothes."

Ronnie turned red at the insult, hands clenching on her lap. Despina turned her attention back to Heather.

"You'll soon figure out that there are some wizarding families that are much better than others, you really don't want to go making friends with the... riffraff families. I can help you there, Pure-blood witch here, Malfoy is one of the greatest family names, if I do say so myself."

She held her hand out to shake Heathers, obviously thinking that Heather didn't choose to be sitting here with a Weasley, it must have must an unfortunate circumstance. Heather didn't take her hand though, instead crossing her arms over her chest.

"I may be new to the wizarding world but I'm sure I can make out the wrong sort for myself, I have to learn some time don't I?

She saw Despina's cheeks turn pink at her words, clearly feeling insulted. She straightened out her robes before replying.

"I'd be a lot more polite if I were you Heather, if you don't want to be friends with the wrong sort, you definitely don't want to make the wrong kind of enemies either. That's what happened to your parents, they hung out with the wrong crowd, didn't know what was good for them. You keep hanging out with people like her and it will rub off on you."

Heather and Ronnie both stood up, cheeks flushing.

"Call me the wrong sort again and see what happens. At least I'm not part of a family who followed the Dark Lord, it's you who has been on the wrong side Despina!" Ronnie declared, challenging her.

"Oh, do you really want to fight us? I may look like just a pretty face but we'll have no problem dealing with you two, right Vaness, Gennifer?"

"Well if you leave now, there won't have to be a fight," Heather offered, not relishing the idea of fighting Vaness or Gennifer, they looked like they could be a part of Dudley's gang, girls or not.

"Oh, but we don't want to leave just yet, everything is getting fun. Besides, you haven't even invited us in and offered us some of your sweets, that's not very polite of you," Despina remarked sarcastically as Gennifer reached over to grab a Chocolate Frog. Ronnie stepped forward to block her but before either of the girls could make a move Gennifer let out a squeal of pain and jumped back. Hanging off her finger was Scabbers, teeth sunk into her knuckle. She flailed around screaming, trying to get the rat off her hand.

"Oh my God, I'm going to die, get it off, it has rabies, I'm going to die!"

Despina and Vaness backed away from her, Despina trying to hide behind her friend, clearly not wanting to get bit. After a lot of flailing, Scabbers finally flew off Gennifer's hand and hit the window; the girls scrambling out of the compartment, afraid of getting bit by any more rats. As they both settled down, they heard more footsteps approaching, Howe Granger appearing in the door again.

"What has been going on in here?" he asked as he looked at all the sweets strewn on the floor and Roanne picking up Scabbers by his tail.

"I think he's unconscious, must have hit the window pretty hard," Roanne called over her shoulder, "Oh wait, he's just asleep, I can't believe it, he's just so lazy."

Roanne laid him back on the seat as Heather started picking the sweets off the floor.

Howe looked at them both incredulously, "You haven't been fighting in here have you? I can't believe you girls, getting into trouble and we haven't even arrived."

"Scabbers was the one getting into trouble, not us, calm down dude," Roanne said, giving Howe a scowl.

Howe shook his head at Roanne, "Fine, no need to throw a fit. But you might want to start changing into your robes, I've spoken with the conductor and he says we'll be there soon."

"Okay, thanks, but could you leave while we change, I don't really want to change in front of a boy."

Howe shrugged at her and left, sliding the door shut behind him. As Heather and Ronnie dug through their trunks and pulled on their robes, placing their jackets in the trunks.

"So you've met that Despina Malfoy before?"

"Yea, we ran into each other in Diagon Alley, she seemed really stuck up but we never introduced ourselves. Didn't care for her much, that's for sure, she needs an attitude adjustment."

"Well I've heard a lot about the Malfoys from my dad. They were one of the families that claimed You-Know-Who bewitched them into doing horrible things. Of course my dad doesn't believe it, they are a pretty nasty family from what I've heard. They didn't need any kind of prompting to join the dark side."

Heather noticed that Ronnie's robe came up short, she must have been taller than her sister at this age; her sneakers shouldn't be showing. Looking out the window, Heather noticed that the sky had darkened and the train was slowing down. Just then the conductor called out an announcement over the PA.

"Attention everyone, we'll be reaching Hogwarts in just a few moments. Please leave all of your belongings on the train, they will be brought into the castle separately."

Ronnie and Heather looked at each other, nerves getting the best of them, Ronnie looking queasy. They quickly stuffed the rest of the sweets into their pockets and made their way towards the crowd of students in the hall.

As the train slowed to a stop, all the students began pushing each other out onto the platform, crowding together in the cold night air. Heather was looking around, wondering where to go when she heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, follow me, over this way."

Heather smiled as she saw Hagrid, looming over all the first years, she grabbed Ronnie and they made their way over to him.

"Hi there Heather, hope you had a good trip. Is that e'eryone? All right then, follow me."

Hagrid led them all down a steep hill, thick trees lining the narrow path on both sides. Heather could feel Ronnie holding onto her robe, not wanting to trip.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' look at Hogwarts in just a sec, jus' round this bend here," Hagrid called out.

There was a collective gasp as the path widened onto the shore of a giant lake. On the far side of the lake, atop a mountain was a huge castle, with many towers and turrets, the windows glittering in the starry light.

"All right, no more'n four to a boat, e'eryone aboard," he called out pointing to a group of small boats. The group of students filed down to the shore, everyone grouping together and finding a boat. Heather and Ronnie clambered into a boat, followed by Howe and Ninette

Once everyone was settled into a boat Hagrid climbed into his own boat. He pulled out his pink umbrella and called out, "FORWARD," all the boats suddenly started gliding forward towards the castle. Everyone silently studied the castle as they neared the mountain it sat on.

"Watch yer heads," called out Hagrid as they approached a curtain of ivy. The boats propelled through the hanging ivy, exposing a wide tunnel in the cliff face. They sailed down the dark tunnel, pulling them further into the mountain and under the castle until they reached an underground dock. As the boats came to a stop the students all climbed out of the boats. They stood waiting for instructions as they watched Hagrid check all the boats.

"Hey, is this yer toad?"

"Oh my gosh, Trevor, you're here," Ninette called out eagerly, rushing forward to grab the toad out of Hagrid's hands. Once all the boats were cleared Hagrid grabbed his lamp and led the students up a rocky path and onto the smooth grass of the front lawn, the large castle casting a huge shadow over the students. Hagrid walked up to the front doors and knocked.

The door swung open at once, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes. She had a very stern face, giving Heather the impression of someone you would not want to cross.

"Here's the firs' years Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take them from here," she said as she pulled the door open wide.

The entrance hall was massive; Heather figured they could fit the Dursley's house and still have room to walk around. There were flaming torches lining the stone walls and a beautiful marble staircase facing them, leading to the upper floors of the castle. Professor McGonagall led the group down the hall, away from the stairs; Heather could hear the drone of people talking as they passed a doorway. All of the other students must already be in the hall but Professor McGonagall led them passed the doorway and into a small chamber further off of the main hall. Everyone crowded into the small room, huddling together nervously, unsure of what was next.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly but of course before you can take your place in the Great Hall, you must first be sorted into your houses," McGonagall explained. "The sorting ceremony is very important, while you are here, your individual houses will be your families within Hogwarts during the year. Your classes will be attended with the rest of your house, you will sleep in your house dormitories with the others in your year, and your free time will be spent in the house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced many outstanding witches and wizards over the years. While you are here at Hogwarts, all of your triumphs will bring your house points and any rule breaking will cost house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will become a credit you whichever house you get sorted into.

"The ceremony will start in just a few moments, taking place in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all prepare yourselves as much as you can. I'll be back momentarily to bring you in," she finished, eyes lingering over some of the students looking worse for wear.

Heather checked to make sure her hair was still neatly pulled back and checked to see if her robe was fastened correctly. She saw Ronnie fixing her hair as well, trying to make her robe look longer in order to cover her shoes. From the corner of her eye she saw Howe stand up straight and further away, Despina toss her pretty hair over her shoulder.

"So uh Ronnie, you have siblings that go here, how exactly does the sorting thing work?"Heather asked, extremely nervous.

"Some sort of test I think, Faye told me that it hurts, but she had to be joking."

"Oh god, a test? In front of everyone? That's not fair, I don't know any magic yet. What do they expect us to do?" Heather whined as she looked around. All the other students looked just as terrified, not sure what to expect. The only person she heard talking was that Howe Granger, whispering to the people next to him about which spells he had learned and which would be the handiest. Heather turned to hear him, hoping that maybe she'd be able to learn some kind of spell in the next few moments. She had never felt like this before, her stomach was doing flip-flops. She tried to calm herself as her eyes settled on the door, waiting for Professor McGonagall to come back for them. Suddenly a few girls screamed and Heather turned around, letting out a slight scream of her own. She stared open mouthed as twenty ghosts floated into the room, right through the back wall. They were pearly-white and semi-transparent, gliding through the room talking amongst themselves. Heather overheard part of an argument between a stout monk and a gentleman wearing a ruffled shirt as they floated over her head.

"I do say, forgive and forget, we need to give him a second chance-"

"Now, now Friar, we've given Peeves plenty of chances. He doesn't deserve anymore. Besides he makes us all look bad, and he's not even a true ghost- oh what do we have here?" said the one wearing the ruffles, noticing the students. The students remained quiet, too stunned to answer.

"Oh, this must be the latest batch of first year students. Waiting to be sorted I suppose?" concluded the Fat Friar, smiling at all the students.

A few of the students managed to nod their heads, still staring up at the ghosts.

"Well I do hope to see you in Hufflepuff, that's my old house"

"Okay move along now," McGonagall called out in a sharp tone, having returned to the hall. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start."

The students watched as the ghosts floated through the wall one by one.

"Okay everyone, line up and follow me."

With a quick glance at Ronnie, Heather got in line behind a boy with sandy hair, Ronnie right behind her. The group followed Professor McGonagall through the doors and into the Great Hall.

Heather felt her jaw drop as she took in the strange splendor of the hall. Lighting it up was thousands of candles, floating in the air over four long tables that were occupied with the other students. At the top of the hall was a fifth table where all the teachers were sitting. On each table there were golden plates and goblets, glittering in the candlelight. Professor McGonagall led the students up towards the Staff Table, facing out towards the other students. Looking out at all the faces, Heather could see some of the ghosts sitting among the crowd. Seeing the sea of eyes staring up at her, Heather diverted her attention to the ceiling; another spectacular sight to behold. Instead of a regular vaulted ceiling, Heather found herself looking at a black ceiling, dotted with beautiful stars. She could overhear Howe whisper to another student, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I've read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."

Heather brought her eyes back down when she heard Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them. On top of the stool she placed a pointed wizard's hat. In Heather's opinion the hat looked very worn and frayed, it had many patches; certainly something that Aunt Petunia would never let into the house.

Thinking of all the magic she had heard about at school, she wondered if she was supposed to pull something out of the hat, or maybe out of her sleeve. She quickly glanced at the older students and saw all of them looking at the hat, waiting, so Heather turned attention back to the hat as well. After a few moments of silence the hat suddenly twitched and a rip appeared, right at the brim. The rip opened wide, like a mouth and suddenly the hat began to sing:

_"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can top them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave of heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I am a Thinking Cap!"_

Everyone in the hall burst out in applause as the Sorting Hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still.

"Oh I'm going to kill Faye and Geminy, all we have to do is try on a hat, they were telling me that we'd have to fight some kind of creature."

Heather was glad all they had to do was try on a hat, she definitely wasn't ready to try and fight some mystical creature, or perform a spell. Although she would admit that she would have preferred to not trying it on in front of everyone. Heather really didn't feel like she would fit in anywhere according to the song, she didn't feel brave or witty, not even cunning. Heather suddenly realized that the hat might not be able to sort her into a house, how could it when she didn't meet any of the criteria. She'd just sit on that stool and the hat called out Muggle for everyone to hear causing Professor McGonagall to just sent her home. She couldn't go back to the Dursley's, not after all of this. Heather started to fidget nervously as she watched Professor McGonagall step forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will step forward, put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted," she explained. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line and over to the stool. She placed the hat on her head, it was so large it fell down over her eyes. There was a moment's pause and then-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah took off the hat and quickly sat at the table.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, Susan quickly jumping down to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table on the left clapped this time as Terry went over to find a spot at the table.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" also went to Ravenclaw and "Brown, Leon" became the first Gryffindor, the table on the far left exploding with cheers. Heather could make out the two Weasley twins standing and cheering.

"Bulstrode, Martin" became the first Slytherin to be sorted. As Heather watched him join the table, she would have swore that they were a very unpleasant looking lot, but maybe it was just because she had heard so many horrible things about them.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Heather began to notice that sometimes the hat shouted out the house quickly, while other times it took a few moments to decide. "Finnegan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy in front of Heather sat on the stool for a whole minute before it finally declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Howe!"

As Howe walked over to the stool, Heather could see an excited smile on his face. He eagerly jammed the hat on his head as he sat down. The hat took a few moments to think things over before finally shouting Gryffindor.

Ronnie groaned softly, clearly thinking that she'd have to put up with Howe all year. Heather idly wandered what she dreaded more, ending up in Gryffindor with Howe, or not getting in Gryffindor and telling her family. Heather continued to watch students sorted, the line dwindling until it was almost her turn.

The girl from the train that kept losing her toad, Ninette Longbottom was called up; on the way up there she tripped over her own feet. Once she made it too the stool, she put the hat on her head, fidgeting nervous. After several minutes the hat finally made up its mind and declared her a Gryffindor. In her haste to sit down Ninette left the Sorting Hat on her head, having to go all the way back to hand it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Of course after Ninette, eventually it was Despina's turn. She pranced up to the stool, self-assured. The Sorting Hat had barely touched her head when it yelled out Slytherin, getting her wish Despina flipped her hair and swayed over to the Slytherin table, smiling. She took her place between her two manly friends, looking ready to run the table.

McGonagall kept calling names, there weren't too many of them left now.

"Moon"... "Nott" ... "Parkinson"... a pair of twins, "Patil" and "Patil" ..., then Perks, Sally-Anne" and finally-

"Potter, Heather!"

Heather swallowed as she stepped forward, already hearing whispers spread through the Great Hall.

"Did she really just say _Heather Potter_?"

"It can't be her, can it?"

As Heather placed the Sorting Hat over her head, she saw everyone craning their necks, trying to get a good look at her. Next she was looking at the inside of the hat, she waited, unsure of what happened next.

"Well," said a voice in his ear, "Difficult, very difficult. You've plenty of courage I see in there, a good mind as well. Plenty of talent in your head, yes, plenty of that- And quiet the thirst to prove yourself as well. So where should I put you?"

_Not Slytherin, please not Slytherin_, Heather thought frantically.

"Not Slytherin, are you sure? You could do very well in there," said the small voice. "Slytherin could help you on your way to greatness, it's all here in your head. But if you're sure, then it had better be GRYFFINDOR!"

She heard the hat shout out her place to the rest of the hall, grateful to not be with Despina. Quickly taking off the hat, she walked over to the Gryffindor table on trembling legs; she was so grateful to be sorted that she barely heard the Weasley twins yelling out, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"When she sat down, Prue came over and pat her on the back, congratulating her on becoming a Gryffindor. Now that she was sitting down, she got a much better look at the High Table. She saw Hagrid sitting on the end nearest her table, waving at Heather, big grin on his face. Heather waved and smiled back before looking at the rest of the Professors. In the middle of the table, sitting in a large golden chair, was Albus Dumbledore; Heather immediately recognized him from her Chocolate Frog card. Further down the table there was the nervous Professor Quirrell, looking out of place with his purple turban.

Tuning back to the sorting, Heather saw there was only a few more students. "Thomas, Dean" a tall black boy soon joined Heather at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and suddenly it was Ronnie's turn. She looked very ill as she sat on the stool, hat falling over her eyes too. The hat quickly shouted Gryffindor and Heather was clapping with everyone else as Ronnie gratefully collapsed next to her. Her sister Prue came over to congratulate her youngest sister as Heather heard "Zambini Blaise" become a Slytherin.

Heather couldn't stop smiling as she looked around the table, happy to have her new friend with her. She looked at her golden plate in front of her, wondering when they'd get to eat, finally realizing how hungry she'd been. The Hall got quiet and everyone was looking up towards the High Table. As Heather glanced up she saw that Dumbledore had stood up and was waiting for quiet. He was beaming at all the students, happy to have them here to begin a new year, spreading his arms, he addressed everyone.

"Welcome everyone, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

Having finished his opening comments, he sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered, Heather really wasn't sure how to respond to his odd words.

"Umm, is he, okay? He seems a bit... mad," Heather asked.

"Mad? He's a genius Heather. Best wizard in the world I do say. But I suppose he is a bit mad. Potatoes?" Prue replied.

Heather looked back at the table and gasped as she saw that the platters had filled with all kinds of food. She eagerly began piling a little bit of everything on her plate. It was so good to know that she could have as much as she wanted for dinner. All of the food was so delicious, Heather thought she'd never get enough. The ghost in the ruffles from earlier was sitting across from her, a gloomy look on his face.

"That food really does look good."

"Can't you-"

"I haven't eaten food in almost 400 years, I really have no need for it, but I do miss it," he explained. "I don't believe that I've introduced myself, I'm Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower.

Ronnie suddenly chimed in, "I know who you are, you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I really prefer to be called Sir Nicholas de Mi-"

"Wait, just how can you be nearly headless?" interrupted Seamus.

Sir Nicholas looked over at Seamus with a scornful look. He gave an impatient sigh and showed them.

"Like this," he said as he pulled on his ear, causing his head to fall onto his shoulder, neck mostly severed. Someone had tried to behead him but didn't finish the job, there was still a small part of his neck that kept his neck attached. The ghost did seem pleased at everyone's shocked faces, smiling slightly.

"So, new Gryffindors, I sure hope you'll do a good job this year and win us points. It would be nice to win the House Cup this year, Slytherin has won it 6 years in a row, the Bloody Baron is becoming unbearable," he informed them, nodding to the ghost covered in silver blood at the Slytherin table.

"Say, Nick, how did he get covered in blood?" Seamus asked, looking at the baron with interest.

"I've never asked him," Nearly Headless Nick replied quietly.

Everyone finished eating while asking Nick a few more questions, soon everyone felt stuffed. As everyone put their forks down, the remains of the food disappeared from the table, leaving the table spotless, a few moments later desserts appearing on all of the tables. Heather once again added desserts to her plate as she turned to the other first years down the table. The talk had turned to families and everyone was sharing their history.

"I'm half and half


End file.
